July 19, 2014
Dear Neighbors,
It's the middle of July and it's been quite pleasant at Sea Pines. Beach fires are once again permitted and have been well-controlled so far. There were only 4 fires on the beach for the weather-postponed July 5 celebration this year. Congratulations to the unit owners who drafted the new beach fire policy, take responsibility for enforcing it and convinced the FMB to adopt it. Note: If you see a fire on the beach Sunday through Thursday, it's illegal. Call the police if you want to report it. Beach fires are permitted only on Friday and Saturday nights and then only with the permission of the Beach Committee. See the web site for details.
A volunteer is needed to take over responsibility for coordinating the annual July 4 parade. Dottie Gerrior handled it for many years but has moved from Sea Pines. Karen Gardner did it for only this year but is happy to show the ropes to a new leader and will assist. She said it is pretty simple to do. Please contact her if you're interested - she's in the homeowner directory.
The siding project is in painting mode for the summer, so the amount of work is minimized. It will pick up again after Labor Day with work being completed on Overlook and started on Grove. Remember that if you want to prepay your entire additional condo fee for this project and get a 2% discount, you must do so before Labor Day. Every unit that does prepay (even after Labor Day) will help save Sea Pines interest charges on the bank loan, which will translate into reduced condo fees in the future.
Last weekend, in the Clubhouse, we toasted Frank Pease for his 40+ years of service on the Sea Pines FMB. It was a well-attended celebration which Frank says he enjoyed thoroughly. Again, "Thanks for a wonderful job!" Mr. Pease!
Speaking of the Clubhouse, the June FMB authorized a budget for renovations in the main meeting room to make it more usable and appealing to the eye and ear. An excellent presentation of the intended renovations was made by Carol Austin. Anyone who needs help in learning effective public speaking and presentations would do well to emulate Carol's style. Subsequent FMB meetings will finalize the expected changes.
The approved minutes of the previous FMB meeting are always posted on the Clubhouse bulletin board. Please note that minutes are approved at the next month's FMB meeting, so minutes of the current meeting are not posted until after the following meeting. If you would like the FMB minutes and these homeowner newsletters emailed to you, please email me your name, Sea Pines address and email address. To be added to the minutes email list, your email address must be the same as the one published for you in the current Sea Pines homeowner directory. Remember to update your email with Mercantile if it changes!
Also know that you can arrange auto-debit of your condo fees from your bank account with Mercantile. This is an advantage if you sometimes forget to send in the payment coupon and check or are getting sticker shock from the cost of postage these days. You can even set up and use auto-debit without a computer. I use auto-debit for most everything these days. It saves me a lot of expensive postage. Contact Mercantile for details of auto-debit. It is a simple process and also saves Sea Pines money since we don't have to print and mail payment coupons to you.
The next FMB is Saturday, July 26 at 8:30am in the Clubhouse. Click on the web site's "events" link to see the current schedule.
Sincerely,
Christopher Wroten, 19 Landing Lane